PEG-PLGA/PLGA from PolySciTech used by Precision NanoSystems, Inc. as part of microfluidics NanoAssemblr™ method optimization and testing

Microfluidics references the use of systems which have extremely small fluid-channels on the order of magnitude of microns in scale. Precision NanoSystems, Inc. is a company which has developed an array of microfluidic instruments and machines designed for a variety of applications including the synthesis of micro and nanoparticles. For generating micro/nano-particles of polymers, the typical process is to dissolve the polymer in an organic solvent and then mix it with water so that the polymer (which is not water soluble) precipitates out into sub-micron sized particles. Unlike simple emulsion, where the solvent and water are randomly mixed together, the mixing of the organic phase with the water phase in a microfluidics system is highly controlled which allows for the generation of very precise micro/nanoparticles. Recently, Precision Nanosystems, Inc. used a series of mPEG-PLGA’s from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com, PolyVivo AK010, AK037, AK106) to make a series of test pegylated nanoparticles with highly controlled properties. They reported these results in a scientific poster presented at controlled release society (CRS) 2017 meeting. This research holds promise for a wide array of applications involving the use of nanoparticles/microparticles as drug delivery systems. Read more here: S.M. Garg, M. Parmar, A. Thomas, E. Ouellet, M. Deleonardis, P. Johnson, A. Armstead, S. Ip, T.J. Leaver, A.W. Wild, R.J. Taylor, E.C. Ramsay “Microfluidics-based Manufacture of PEG-b-PLGA Block Copolymer Nanoparticles for the Delivery of Small Molecule Therapeutics” Controlled Release Society 2017 Poster Session. (https://www.precisionnanosystems.com/resources/?_sf_s=PEG-b-PLGA&_sft_resource-type=poster)

“(Poster introduction): Purpose: In recent years, numerous methods have been developed for the production of block copolymer nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles. However, these methods pose numerous challenges in maintaining consistent nanoparticle quality, tuning size depending on the application, optimization for scale-up, and reproducibility. The NanoAssemblr™ platform is an automated microfluidics-based system that eliminates user variability and is capable of reproducible, and scalable manufacture of nanoparticles. Here, we describe the use of microfluidic mixing to manufacture PEG-b-PLGA nanoparticles using the NanoAssemblr™ Benchtop instrument. We further describe optimization strategies and investigate the physical encapsulation of a hydrophobic model drug coumarin-6.Results: Microfluidic mixing enabled the rapid and consistent manufacturing of PEG-b-PLGA nanoparticles having diameters below 100 nm. Instrument parameters such as aqueous:organic Flow Rate Ratio and Total Flow Rate had a significant impact on the size of the resulting nanoparticles. Increasing the molecular weight of the PLGA block from 10000 - 95000 Da resulted in an increase in the size of the nanoparticles from 40 - 80 nm. However, changes in the total flow rate of the instrument enabled all the nanoparticles to be tuned to a similar size of 60 nm which is difficult to control using conventional techniques. Coumarin-6 was successfully loaded into PEG-b-PLGA nanoparticles with an encapsulation efficiency of 52% w/w which was significantly higher than that obtained by co-solvent evaporation technique (34% w/w). The size of the nanoparticles prepared using the NanoAssemblr platform were tunable over a broad range while co-solvent evaporation does not provide a reliable means to tune size.”

In addition to this poster, Precision Nanosystems, Inc. has utilized PLGA from PolySciTech (PolyVivo AP121) in generating a wide array of technical data relevant to their microfluidic system. You can see these technical whitepapers here (https://www.precisionnanosystems.com/resources/?_sf_s=plga&_sft_resource-type=tech-bulletins-and-white-papers)